Lightning Bolts, Dragons, And Sea Gods - 1094 Words

Kyra Reifenberg Matthew Wilkens CLT 3370-0003 29 January 2015 Lightning Bolts, Dragons, and Sea Gods Oh My! : The Nature Myth Theory For hundreds and hundreds of years people have been fascinated with all the aspects of the ancient Greek culture and mythology. Because of this avid interest in ancient Greek mythology, people have developed several different theories to explain these ancient myths. These theories range from trying to view myths in a rational way and interpreting them to explain natural occurrences to viewing myths using metaphors and psychology. While no one theory is correct or wrong for that matter, some theories fit certain myths better than others do. The ancient Greeks used many myths to try to explain what they could†¦show more content†¦However why would the ancient Greeks choose to create a god that is wrathful, vengeful, and has an uncontrollable temper? As the myths go, Zeus has lightning and thunderbolts that are formed by the Cyclopes that he is able to wield, and do with as he pleases. By examining, these my ths in a Nature myth standpoint the Greeks created the myth of Zeus’s lightning and thunderbolts to explain certain weather occurrences. While today, a storm is not necessarily a major problem or catastrophe because we have warning systems and fortified shelters and housing, that was definitely not the case in ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks did not have a weather radar to warn them of an upcoming storm nor did the really understand what caused a storm to hit them. When a bad storm hit, it could lay waste to several homes and people. Furthermore, because of the location of Greece they were frequently hit by all kinds of storms. Through creating the god Zeus and his lightning bolts, the Greeks could attribute to what they thought the abrupt nature of storms to Zeus’s faulty personality. Also by making the incidences of bad weather due to Zeus, the ancient people also thought they might be able to appease him by making sacrifices, and therefore receive fair skies and weather in return. However due to the fact that the Zeus was created to make some sort of explanation for lightening, thunder and storms these sacrifices in actuality did nothing and this also attributed to the idea of